Textual analysis

I am going to be analysing a horror movie trailer. I will be looking at many things such as:

• Camerawork
• Editing
• Sound
• Mise en scene

The film trailer I will be analysing and looking for the conventions is Evil dead. This movie is about a man who reads from an forbidden book, written 'Leave this book alone' but he opens and reads it, unlocking a demon from the past, out to get the man who read from the book, as well as everyone around him.

Camerawork
There is a vast variety of camera shots used in the trailer of Evil dead. Some of these include close ups - showing the emotions and intensity of characters, over-shoulder shot - showing the face of the character clearly, the reaction and expression all caught, wide shot - showing the whole scene, including some of the setting making the shot more effective, ect. Panning was used in this trailer, which created a spooky effect, gettin the audience hooked on what the camera was panning up onto, in this case is introduced the scene, showing the abandoned house and the setting arond it. This showed the audience where this film was located and by panning behind sticks, while introducing the scene, which made it look as though the camera was sneakily taking a look at the house, allowing the audience to think there is something to be scared of.
An over-shoulder shot was also used when the woman was speaking to the man in an intense way, creating tension, not only for those in the scene but the audience too, as you can see the woman's body language, as well as her expression. When she says 'You have to get me out of here' you can really see the horror on her face

MES
In terms of the mise en scene, this covers many aspects that a conventional horror film will include such as the props, costume, location, people etc. This movie is set at a typical location that a horror movie would be in, in a abandoned house, right in the middle of the woods. For example, the movies Mama, Friday the 13th, House of wax, etc. The setting is dark, damp and dull and the house is small, messy and cramped, making it look effective as a horror, opening all possible outcomes. The forbodden book is wrapped up in black plastic wrapped around with barbwire, creating a scary effect and showing the audience that it should not be opened and if it is, something bad will happen. Also, by the book flicking pages on its own, shows us that by opening the book, he has set something off that they should be scared of. I have noticed that there seems to be a truck outside the house in nearly every current horror film trailer I have watched, which seems to be a typical convention of a horror trailer. Right at the end of this trailer, you see the demon coming out of a hatch in the ground, covered in chains, showing that by opening the book, they have unlocked and loosened the chains, dragging them to their own funerals.The windows, beds and doors slam to provoke fear and a "jumpy" and "creepy" scene to the audience. The use of childrens toys is a  representation of childhood, there are such things such as toys, dolls and a rocking horse. These things can be modified to the advantage of a horror genre. Toys can show an evil presence by getting them to move without anyone touching them. A rocking horse is used in many films as it is an object that many can relate to in their own childhood, this is commonly used to show a ghostly presence as it rocks back and forth.

Editing

There were many editing techniques used in this movie trailer to create a scary effect. For example the black flashes, used to close the scene and open up a new one that may be even more terrifying than the one before, creates a jumpy effect and allows the audience to wonder what happens next and really gets them hooked to the terrifying storyline. Fast forward mode was also used in this trailer. I have noticed that this is used in many movie trailers I have seen. The one used in this movie trailer is the camera moving fast in the woods. This is a good effect as it is almost as if the audience are there and they are the ones running, making the video effective and more 'real'.

Sound

The sound effects on this trailer creates a very intense atmosphere, as there are many loud crashes and bangs, making the audience watching the trailer frightened, however still managing to draw them into the film. I feel that the soundtrack of this trailer is perfect in the way that the music really does fit and compliment the trailer and works really well with the sound effects.